6

3

4

13

3

24

15

13

10

13

8

4

10

36

11

3

23

4

32

4

9

12

15

William McKinley was elected President and Garret A. Hobart as Vice-President.

During this period Congress was divided politically as follows:

Fifty-fifth Congress.

Senate-34 Democrats, 44 Republicans, 5 Populists, 6 Silver
Republicans, 1 Independent..

House-121 Democrats, 203 Republicans, 21 Populists, 3
Silverites, 4 Independents, 5 vacancies

Fifty-sixth Congress.

Senate-26 Democrats, 51 Republicans, 5 Populists, 4 Silverites, 4 vacancies.

Total, 90

...Total, 90

357

House-161 Democrats, 185 Republicans, 5 Populists, 3
Silverites, 3 vacancies.

Election of 1900

Democratic National Committee:

Chairman, JAMES K. JONES, of Arkansas.
Secretary, CHARLES A. WALSH, of Iowa.

DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.

Kansas City, Mo., July 4-6, 1900.

This convention consisted of 936 delegates, including six from Hawaii. Two of the delegates from Utah were women. The proceedings on the opening day included the reading of the Declaration of Independence. William J. Bryan, of Nebraska, was unanimously nominated for President on the first ballot.

But one ballot was taken for a candidate for Vice-President, resulting as follows:

Before the result of the ballot was announced, changes were made to Stevenson until every vote was recorded in his favor.

The construction of the platform was under discussion for two days by the Committee on Resolutions. A plank declaring for the free coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 was adopted by a vote of 26 to 24. The convention, without debate and without a dissenting voice, adopted by acclamation the platform as reported by the committee, as follows::

DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM.

We, the representatives of the Democratic party of the United States, assembled in national convention, on the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, do reaffirm our faith in that immortal proclamation of the inalienable rights of man and our allegiance to the Constitution framed in harmony therewith by the Fathers of the Republic. We hold with the United States Supreme Court, that the Declaration of Independence is the spirit of our government, of which the Constitution is the form and letter.

THE ORIGIN AND POWERS OF GOVERNMENT.

We declare again that all governments instituted among men derive their just powers from the consent of the governed; that any government not based upon the consent of the governed is a tyranny, and that to impose upon any people a government of force is to substitute the methods of imperialism for those of a republic. We hold that the Constitution

follows the flag, and denounce the doctrine that an Executive or Congress deriving their existence and their powers from the Constitution can exercise lawful authority beyond it or in violation of it.

We assert that no nation can long endure half republic and half empire, and we warn the American people that imperialism abroad will lead quickly and inevitably to despotism at home.

TAXATION OF PORTO RICO.

Believing in these fundamental principles, we denounce the Porto Rican law, enacted by a Republican Congress against the protest and opposition of the Democratic minority, as a bold and open violation of the nation's organic law and a flagrant breach of the national good faith. It imposes upon the people of Porto Rico a government without their consent and taxation without representation. It dishonors the American people by repudiating a solemn pledge made in their behalf by the commanding general of our army, which the Porto Ricans welcomed to a peaceful and unresisted occupation of their land. It doomed to poverty and distress a people whose helplessness appeals with peculiar force to our justice and magnanimity.

In this, the first act of its imperialistic programme, the Republican party seeks to commit the United States to a colonial policy inconsistent with republican institutions and condemned by the Supreme Court in numerous decisions.

PLEDGE TO CUBA.

We demand the prompt and honest fulfillment of our pledge to the Cuban people and the world, that the United States has no disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over the Island of Cuba except for its pacification. The war ended nearly two years ago, profound peace reigns over all the island, and still the administration keeps the government of the island from its people, while Republican carpet-bag officials plunder its revenues and exploit the colonial theory, to the disgrace of the American people.

THE PHILIPPINES.

We condemn and denounce the Philippine policy of the present administration. It has involved the republic in unnecessary war, sacrificed the lives of many of our noblest sons, and placed the United States, previously known and applauded